Interview with John Cook
Wed 29 Oct 2008
On many counts John Cook could not have had a better 2008 as a coach. His three athletes all made the US Olympic Team—Shalane Flanagan in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres and Shannon Rowbery and Erin Donahue in the 1500 metres. Add to that a bronze medal from Flanagan in the 10,000m—the only US medal from 800m up to the marathon—and you have all the ingredients of a fairy tale summer. However, it is coach Cook’s obsession with excellence, discipline and detail, along with his high expectations of those around him, that made 2008 one of the most frustrating season’s in this long career coaching at the sharp end of track and field.
In this riveting follow-up interview, coach Cook talks openly and honestly, beginning with the US Olympic Trials in Eugene, about each step of the way on the “Road to Beijing”. He recounts the struggles and setbacks his team encountered, but how in the end they came together to produce some outstanding results. He also comments on the future of the endurance events and his beliefs about what coaches, athletes and governing bodies need to do to keep pace with the Africans. This is a hard-hitting, frank and fascinating interview with one of the most creative, innovative and original coaching minds working in athletics today.
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